Aidem bags ‘Get Punjabi’ biz

Aidem Ventures, an independent media consulting, marketing and advertising sales company, has been appointed as the media representative for Get Punjabi, a new player in the Punjabi GEC space.

Following the success of Punjjabi TV in US and Canada, GEE Info Media launched Get Punjabi in India in October 2011.

Vikas Khanchandani, Director, Aidem Ventures said, “We, at Aidem, intend to create an assortment of focused offerings that deliver a pan-India reach to our advertisers. With this deal coming through, we have expanded our footprint in the regional market with channels ranging from the Tamil Nadu’s Jaya TV, Jaya Max, Jaya Plus and J Movies; Odisha’s Lakshyya Entertainment; Mi Marathi and now Get Punjabi.”

“We invest a lot of time and resources to reinvent our programming and cover every aspect of entertainment in order to connect with evolving viewer interests. With Aidem’s thorough understanding of what drives profitability and cash flow and its market-oriented approach to business, we are confident that this collaboration will have a progressive bearing on our RoI,” said Manish Vasisht, Executive Director/CEO, GEE Info Media.

Regional markets form a sizable portion of the total TV pie – after Hindi GECs, the regional GEC genre is the largest in terms of viewership. Key regional markets in India present a large population with higher-than-average incomes and consumption patterns. They have grown at a higher rate than the national market, registering a growth of 15 per cent in 2011 [FICCI-KPMG Report 2012]. Advertiser interest in these markets has been rising. They appear to have been more insulated from the current economic slowdown than national channels, to some extent driven by local business segments such as jewelry in Kerala and textile in Tamil Nadu.

Alok Rakshit, Head, Broadcast Business, Regional And News, Aidem Ventures said, “We are pleased to have Get Punjabi on board, as it is a perfect fit in our regional TV channels bouquet. It will help shape our growth path for the next few years. The Punjabi-speaking population across Northern India is the target audience for many a brands. With Rs 75 crore riding on Punjabi entertainment genre, the growing trend is deemed to continue.”

During the first few years of the 21st century, barely six or seven Punjabi films were produced every year. In contrast, around 17 films were released in 2011 and over 40 films are expected to release in 2012. Renowned production houses such as Eros International and Big Pictures, which earlier produced only Hindi or South Indian films, are entering the Punjabi arena. Moreover, the Punjabi film industry that clocked revenues in the range of Rs 3 crore to 5 crore a movie; now crosses the Rs 20 crore mark for top movies. This goes to show that the audience is ready for Punjabi entertainment.